Drying apparatus.



W. BARTHOLOMEW.

DRYING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION H'LED AUG. 28. 1914.

PatenM July 4, 1916.-

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

-w. BARTHOLOMEW.

DRYING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.28, 1914.

Patentedjuly i, 1916.

" 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM BARTHOLOMEW, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T TROY LAUNDRY'MACHINERY COMPANY, LTD., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION" OF NEWYORK.

, useful Improvements in Drying Apparatus,

of heat can be imparted to the air by of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates in general to drying apparatus, and. moreparticularly to drying tumblers for laundry use.

Drying tumblers of the character to which my invention relates comprisea rotary foraminous cylinder inclosed within casings containingsteam-heated coils, and a blower for circulating air around the coilsand thence through the foraminous cylinder to dry the articles therein.It has usually been.

customary in such dry room tumblers to discharge the heated air after.being once circulated around the heating coils and through the rotarycylinder. This is wasteful of heat and unnecessarily prolongs the dryingoperation, as, obviously, only a limited degree merely passing oncearound the heating coils. However, to circulate the same air repeatedlyby the blower around the heating coils and through the cylinder involvesdifliculties, as the air in passing through the articles in the cylinderbecomes laden with lint which accumulates in the blower and produces anunbalanced condition thereof, resulting in excessive wear and injury.

The primary object of my inventionis to provide in a drying tumbler, ofthe type 'in which the heated air is repeatedly circulated through thearticles to be dried, improved mechanism for automatically el1m1- natinglint, or other particles of material,

from the air before it again passes through the blower, therebyprotecting the blower from injury.

A. further object of my invention is to provide a drying tumbler inwhich the lint picked up by the air in passing through the articles willnot only be eliminated from the air, but will be automatically removedfrom the apparatus,-so as not ,to impede the repeated free circulationof the hot air through the articles i A still further object of myinvention is to provide a dryingtumbler which will be simple inconstruction, eflicient in operation, and convenient in use.

Specification of Iletters .Patent. Application filed August as, 1914.Serial No. 859,086.

DRYING- APPARATUS.

Patented July 4, 1916.

My invention will be more fully disclosed hereinafter with reference tothe accompany- 1n'g drawings, in which the same is illustrated asembodied in convenient and practical form, and in which Figure 1 is afront elevational view, parts being broken away. Fig. 2 is a sectionalview, taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 3 is a verticalsectional view.

The same reference characters are used to designate the same parts inthe several figures of the drawings.

Reference characters A, A designate the end-supporting frames of acasing or'housing, such frames being preferably,made of cast metal andprovided with pairs of feet a and a at the lower edgesthereof, whichserve to support the casing. Secured to the inner surfaces of the endframes A and A are sheet metal plates A which form the end walls of thecasing.

B designates the front wall of the casing, which is preferably formedofsheet metal and supported upon the front surfaces of the end frames. Theupper portion of the front wall B is curved to conform to the curvatureof a cylinder 0, supported in the casing by suitable trunnions'journaled in the end frames. suitable construction, so as to permit thefree passage of air therethrough, and may convenientlybe formed of wirefabric supported upon a suitable frame. The upper curved portion of thefront wall B is provided with a hinged door B, preferably of a widthcoextensive with the width of the cylinder C, while the latter isprovided with a similar hinged door C, so that when the doors arebrought in registry articles may be placed in. or removed from, thecylinder. One of the trunnions of the cylinder C projects through one ofthe side frames, as shown in Fig. 1, and is provided with suitthereto,such, for instance, as belt pulleys D.

E designates the rear wall of the casing, which is provided with aninclined top portion E extending above the cylinder C and connected withthe top edge of the curved upper portion of the front wall B by means ofa downwardly curved portion 6'.

F designates a substantially semi-circular partition extending from oneend wall to the other end wall and closely surrounding the The cylinderis of any able means for imparting rotary motionrear and bottom surfacesof the cylinder, as clearly shown in Flg. 3. The top edge of thepartition F terminates a short distance from the top edge of the uppercurved portion of the front wall B to form a passageway immediatelyabove the cylinder, and preferably coextensive therewith.

(l designates a partition extending downwardly from the rear surface ofthe curved partition F to the bottom wall J of the (asing. The partitionG is spaced inwardly from the rear wall of the casing, so as to providea chamber in which are located heating coils H, through which passes aheating medium, such as steam.

K and K designate blowers supported upon the bottom wall J of the casingbeneath the semi-cylindrical partition F and having their dischargeopenings communicating with openings through the partition 5 adjacentthe bottom thereof, as shown in K designates a shaft upon which theblades of the blowers are secured, and by means of which they arerotated. This shaft is journaled in hearings on the end walls of the casing, one-end of the shaft projecting through one of the end walls, as,for instance A, and being provided with suitable power connections forrotating the same.

L designates a cylindrical screen mounted Within the casing intermediateof the cylinder C and the intakes of the blower K and K The cylindricalscreen is mounted upon a concentric rod Z, which is journaled at itsends in the end frames A" and A of the casing. One end of this rod isprovided with suitable means for rotating the screen.

Located adjacent the cylindrical screen L is a rotary brush 'M, which isprovided at its ends with trunnions m j ournaled in theend framesof thecasing. This brush comprises spirally arranged strips M of flexiblematerial, such, for instance, as felt, which strips bear against theouter surface of the cylindrical screen. A trough N is located beneaththe brush M and partially surrounds the same, said trough extending fromone end wall of-thecasing to the other, and being provided with a spoutportion N at one end extending through an opening in oneof the endwalls, as, for instance, A, of the casing A. One wall of the troughextends upwardly into contact with the inner surface of the front wall Bof the casing, as indicated at n. The inner wall of the trough projectsupwardly into contact with the lower surface of the: cylindrical screen,and

is provided with one or more strips 0 and 0 of flexible material, such,for instance, as felt, which bear against the screen throughout itslength. I

The creen L and brush M are preferably rotated in opposite directions byany suitable means, as, for instance, a belt L e11- gaging a pulley Zfixed to the end of the rod Z which projects through the end wall A ofthe casing, said belt also engaging a. pulley m fixed to the trunnion mof the rotary brush M which projects through the end wall A of thecasing. The brush may be rotated in any suitable manner, as by means ofa. pulley M fixed upon the upwardly projecting portion of one of itstrunnions m, engaged by a belt m passing around a pulley k fixed uponthe correspondingly projecting end K of the shaft of the fans K and K Inorder to insure the air passing from the cylinder C through the rotaryscreen L before it is drawn into the blowers, a strip f of flexiblematerial, such, for instance, as felt, is secured to the lower edge ofthe partition F and bears against the adjacent surface of the screen, asclearly shown in Fig. 3.

The manner of using and operation of my improved drying tumbler are asfollows: The door C of the cylinder C is brought into registry with thedoor B at the front of the casing, so that both of the doors may beopened and wet articles placed within the cylinder to be dried. Thedoors are then closed, and the cylinder rotated through the powerconnections. so as to agitate the articles and expose all portionsthereof to the circulating hot air. The fans are rotated, throughsuitable connections, so as to force air into the bottom of the heatingchamber containing the steam-heat ed coils H. The air passes. around thesteam-heated coils and is heated thereby, after which it passes throughthe opening above the cylinder, thence through the cylinder' intocontact with the articles contained therein. The rotation of the blowersdraws the air from the cylinder through the portion thereof intermediateof L;the front wall of the casing and the lower edge of thesemi-cylindrical partition F. The 21.11 thus drawn from the cylinder bythe blowers passes through the screen L which serves to remove from theair the lint, or particles of other materials, with which it is laden byreason of its passage through the articles in the cylinder C. The airthen passes through the intake openings of the blowers and is againdelivered to the bottom ofthe heating chamber H to be reheated bypassing upwardly around the steam-heated coils.

The same air is therefore circulated continu ously through'the cylinder,and after each passage therethrough passes through the .air issuccessively reheated.

The relative rotation of the cylindrical screen L and the brush 'Mcauses the spirally arranged strips M to remove from the exticles ofother material, deposited thereon,

AMY

such particles of material falling into the trough N, and beingdelivered therefrom through the spout N to the exterior of the casing.The spiral arrangement of the strips upon the brush therefore serves asa screw conveyer to move the particles of ma tcrial removed from thescreen toward the outlet spout N. I p

When the articles have been treated a sufiicient length of time tothoroughly dry them, the door C of the cylinder C is again brought intoregistry with the door B of the casing, and the dry articles areremoved, and another supply of articles to be dried placed within thecylinder.

From the foregoing description it will be observed that I have inventedanimproved drying tumbler in which the air is kept in circulation aroundthe heating coils and through the cylinder, thereby economizing the heatand expediting the drying of-the articles, and in which the lint, orparticles of other matter, with which the air passing from the cylinderis laden, is eliminated from the air before it passes through theblowers and is automatically discharged to the exterior ofthe casing.

While I have described my invention with more or less minuteness, and asbeing embodied in c'ertainprecise forms, yet it will be understood thatI do not desire to be limited thereto unduly, or any more than'ispointed out in the appended claims. On the contrary, I contemplate allproper changes in form, construction, and arrangement,. the omlsslon ofimmaterial parts, and the substitution of equivalents as circumstancesmay suggest or render expedient,

I cla1m:

1. In a dryingtumbler, the combination with a casing, of a rotarycylinder in. said casing for containing articles to be dried, a heatingchamber, a blower for circulating air through the heating chamber andthence through the cylinder, a screen through which the air passesbefore being drawn through the blower, and means for automaticallyremoving the particles of material deposited upon said screen. 1

. 2. In a drying tumbler, the combination with a casing, of a rotarycylinder in said casing for containing articles to be dried, a heatingchamber, a' blower for circulating air through the heating chamber andthence through the cylinder, a screen through which the air passesbefore bein drawn through the blower, and a movab e brush engaging saidscreen for removing therefrom particles of material de osited thereon.

3. .In a drying tumbler, t e combination with a casing, of a rotarycylinder in said casing for containing articles to be dried, a heatingchamber, a blower for circulating culating air air through the heatingchamber and thence drawn through the blower, and a rotary brushcomprising pliable strips spirally arranged thereon engaging said screento remove particles of material deposited thereon and to discharge theparticles of material to the exterior of the casmg.

5. In a drying tumbler, the combination with a casing, of a rotarycylinder in said casing, a heating chamber, a blower for cirthrough theheating chamber and cylinder, a rotary cylindrical screen foreliminating particles of material from the air after it passes throughthe cylinder and before it enters the blower, and means engaging theexterior of said cylindrical screen for removing therefrom particles ofmaterial deposited thereon. I

6. In a drying tumbler, the combination with a casing, of a rotarycylinder in said casing, a heating chamber, a blower for circulating airthrough the heating chamber and cylinder, a rotary c eliminatingparticles 0 material from the air after it passes through-the cylinderand before it enters the blower, and a brush movable relatively to andengaging said with a casing, of a rotary cylinder in said casing, aheating chamber, a blower for circulating air .through the heatingchamber and cylinder, a rotary cylindrical screen for eliminatingparticles of material from the air before it passes through the cylinderand before it enters the blower, and a cylindrical brush rotatingrelatively. to said screen, said brush comprising strips of pliablematerial spirally arranged thereon engaging said screen to remo'veparticles of. material deposited thereon and dischar e the particles ofmaterial to the exterior o the casing.

tumbler, the combination In a drying tumbler, the combination lindricalscreen for 9. In a drying tumbler, the combination with a casing, of arotary cylinder in said casing, heating coils, a blower for circulatingair around the heating coils and through the cylinder, a rotarycylindrical screen located intermediate of said cylinder and the intakeof said blower, and means engaging the exterior of said cylindricalscreen for automatically removing particles of material deposited onsaid screen.

10. In a drying apparatus, the combination with a chamber for containingthe articles to be dried, of means for circulating heated air throughsaid chamber, a rotary screen through which the heated air passes 7after passing through the articles in said chamber, and rotary means forautomatically removing the particles of material deposited upon saidscreen.

11. In a drying apparatus, the combination with a chamber for containingthe articles to be dried, of means for circulating air through saidchamber, a rotary cylindrical screen for eliminating particles of tionwith a chamber for containing the articles to be dried, of means forcirculating heated air through said chamber, a rotary cylindrical screenfor eliminating particles of material from the air after it passesthrough said chamber, and a cylindrical brush comprising strips ofyielding material spirally arranged thereon and engaging said screento'remove particles of material deposited thereon and discharge them tothe exterior of the apparatus.

In testimony whereof, I have subscribed my name.

WILLIAM BARTHOLOMEW.

Witnesses C. M. LEARY, D. E. MANN.

